CONTRIBUTIONS AND CONSTRAINTS OF BAMBOO FOREST: THE CASE OF GOBA WOREDA IN BALE ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Bamboo is one of the more important natural resources in Ethiopia and contributes to the bio<br> economy as a potential source for high-value products. While the country is the largest producer of<br> bamboo in Africa, the existing utilization of the bamboo sector in Ethiopia remains under-developed,<br> with little value addition. The purpose of this study was to assess contributions and constraints of<br> production, harvesting and marketing of bamboo trees in Goba Woreda; Bale Zone. Probability and<br> none probability sampling were used in primary data collection using questionnaires, focus group<br> discussion and interview schedules. A total of 12 key informants were interviewed and 289<br> questionnaires were administered to households and questions were discussed by focus group.<br> Secondary data were collected from scientific journals, books, periodicals, and research reports,<br> published and unpublished thesis. Quantitative data were analyzed using inferential and descriptive<br> statistics such as correlation, regression frequent and percentages. Qualitative data were organized<br> and categorized into thematic areas of the study objectives. The results were presented in form of<br> text and table. The study revealed that bamboo has the potential to replace wood in many aspects<br> but bamboo remained a fairly untapped resource and compared to most similar products it had no<br> formal marketing structure. It also showed that the bamboo value chain was affected by ecological,<br> economic and cultural, legal, technological and economic factors. Moreover, status of bamboo trees<br> were very low in study area when com pare to the past., again bamboo affected by different factors<br> and also, economic and physical contribution of bamboo is good as well as constraints of bamboo<br> harvesting and marketing in study areas are low quality of soil fertility, low species of bamboo trees,<br> communities attitude toward bamboo trees and meager income. Finally, To utilize the existing<br> contribution of bamboo sub-sector of Ethiopia, all stakeholders of like agricultural sector and<br> natural resource management offices those sectors should be linked to gain Coordination among the<br> bamboo users which will improve marketing and harvesting of bamboo trees..Non-governmental<br> organization should educate consumer to encourage use of bamboo in order to maximize profit from<br> bamboo trees. Government should improve the work condition of workers of bamboo trees by providing financial and technical support to them.2